Kirk Bernard

When you get in a Washington car accident – whether it is a major injury accident or a minor fender bender – the first thing you that you may want to do, and should do, is to contact your auto insurance company. However, a common mistake a lot of people make with their auto accident claim or personal injury claim is to believe that the insurance adjuster or the insurance company is their friend.

As a Seattle car accident attorney, here is something that I tell my clients all the time. The insurance company is not always your well-wisher. Simply put, your insurance company is not always on your side. It would not benefit them to look out for your best interest. Why? Because that’s exactly how they make their profits. They take your premiums every month, which you probably have been paying regularly over the years. However, when it is time for them to pay your claim, your insurance adjuster may do everything he or she can to reduce the value of the claim. In fact, that is what a good insurance adjuster would do. Surprised? Don’t be, because that’s the way it is.

If you have been injured in an auto accident, you would be well-advised to retain the services of an experienced Seattle auto accident lawyer, who will be on your side and fight for your rights. Why does that benefit a personal injury lawyer? A personal injury attorney gets paid a percentage of what you recover. However, if you don’t recover anything, the attorney gets nothing.

When you are looking for an attorney, find a law firm that has the resources to beat the insurance companies’ tactics. The Bernard Law Firm has an in-house insurance expert who used to work for the insurance companies. We know and understand the strategies insurance companies will use against you to reduce the value of your claim.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Washington auto accident, please contact the experienced Washington personal injury attorneys with The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information about Washington car accident cases to help you understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

A majority of personal injury cases in Washington do not go to trial. If you have an experienced Seattle personal injury lawyer on your side, your case will very likely be settled out of court and to your satisfaction. However, sometimes, the insurance company or the other party may not offer you or even want to offer you a fair settlement. When this happens, there is a great chance that your case may go to trial.

Here is an example of when a case may go to trial. Let’s take the example of a 35-year-old woman who has been injured in an auto accident. Let’s say the defendant in this case was clearly at fault. The defendant made a left turn across the woman’s lane of travel, crashing into her car. The victim sustained injuries including a compression fracture and a disc bulging in her back. Her medical bills went over $25,000. In this case, if the defense offers $35,000, then that settlement would hardly be sufficient given the clear case of negligence, the cost of past and future medical expenses, as well as loss of wages involved.

In such cases, an experienced personal injury lawyer will not hesitate to take the case to trial. As lawyers will often tell you, the defense will usually offer a policy limits settlement either before or during the trial. Remember, you can even accept your settlement offer when you are waiting for the jury to come up with their verdict. In such cases, plaintiffs will not get the best offer had the case not gone to trial.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Seattle auto accident, please contact the experienced Washington personal injury attorneys with The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information about Washington auto accident cases that will help you better understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

Some of our best childhood memories always seem to include riding our bikes with friends. Riding a bike a short distance away from home or within the neighborhood seems safe enough. Most of us don’t think about it too much, especially when our children ride around the street corner to a friend’s house. What’s the worst that can happen? Well, statistics speak for themselves.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 784 bicyclists were killed and 45,000 were injured in the United States in the year 2005. Children under the age of 16 accounted for 18 percent of these deaths and 35 percent of these injuries. According to Kids Health.org, about 300,000 children visit an emergency room every year because of bicycle accident related injuries.

These numbers tell us that we need to do our part to prevent bike accident injuries. Children should not just be made aware of bicycle safety rules. They should know and be able to demonstrate how and why they need to follow these safety rules. If you are a parent who would like your child to ride safely, these tips provided by attorney Kirk Bernard may be useful to you:

1. Always make sure your child is wearing a bike helmet – no exceptions. The helmet shouldn’t be in his or her hand or slung on the handlebar. It should be on the child’s head, fitting snugly. Your child should wear a helmet, even if they are traveling “just around the corner.” Remember, head injuries are responsible for a majority of bicycle accident deaths.
2. Make sure your child is riding the correct size bicycle. The child should be able to put both feet on the ground while straddling the bicycle frame and still have 1 to 3 inches between them and the top bar.
3. Teach your child proper bicycle hand signals. This will help drivers know what they are going to do next so they don’t get hit. Also teach your child basic road signs so they know and understand what they mean and obey them.
4. Have your children ask permission before they take off on their bicycle. Know where they are going to be when riding their bike. You may also want to make busy streets and dangerous intersections off-limits.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident as a result of someone else’s negligence, please contact the experienced Seattle personal injury attorneys with The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information to help you better understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

Tires are one of the most important components of any vehicle. They serve as the only moving parts of the vehicle to make constant contact with the road. If you overlook maintaining your tires or taking good care of them, no matter how well-engineered your vehicle is, you’re not really safe on the road. Tire blowouts are one of the most common causes of car accidents in Seattle, WA and throughout the United States. Tire blowouts or tread separation can cause the vehicle to go out of control and it can be difficult, even for the most experienced of drivers, to take back control of the vehicle. Here are a few simple tire safety tips to help keep you and your passengers safe on the road:

1. Check your tire pressure regularly. A digital tire gauge is an easy way to do that. It’s advisable to check your tire pressure once a month and always, before you set out on a long trip.
2. Take care of under-inflated tires right away. The problem with such tires is that they create more heat, which can cause tire failure.
3. Always keep a spare tire. And make sure that tire is properly inflated as well, should you need it.
4. Check for tread depth. You can do this by placing the edge of a penny upside down into the grooves of the tire’s tread. If you can see all of Abe Lincoln’s head, it’s time for new tires. Rotating your tires every 5,000 to 7,000 miles will help ensure that your tires all wear out at the same rate.
5. When you check tire pressure every month, also check for tire damage such as cuts, cracks or bulges.
6. If you find out that your tire is cut or damaged, do not procrastinate. Replace it right away.

Sometimes, tire blowouts can also occur because of a defective tire. If you have sustained injuries because of an accident that you believe was caused by a defective tire, please contact an experienced Seattle auto products liability lawyer to find out more information about your legal rights and options.

Call The Bernard Law Group for a FREE, comprehensive and completely confidential consultation at 1-800-418-8282 or e-mail us at info@bernardlawgroup.com. We can also send you our FREE brochure about Washington product defect cases, which has useful, educational information to help you understand your rights. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

A recent study released by The Auto Club states that auto accidents caused by teen drivers cost us dearly. It adds up to more than $34 billion annually, nationwide. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for American teenagers. Here’s a shocking statistic. Young people ages 15 to 20 make up 6.7 percent of the total driving population in this country but are involved in 14 percent of all fatal crashes.

As a skilled Seattle personal injury lawyer, Kirk Bernard is familiar with how most accidents involving teens are the result of speed, alcohol or drug use, or because of inexperience. Here are a few tips to help teen drivers stay safe on the road:

1. Always buckle up. Wear your seatbelt and make sure all your passengers buckle up too.
2. Never get behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other intoxicants.
3. Adjust your car’s headrest to a height behind your head to minimize whiplash in the event of a crash.
4. Do not drive with small children or small teen friends as passengers in a front seat that has a passenger-side airbag.
5. Never try to fit in more people in the car than you have seatbelts for them to use.
6. Make sure the car’s tires are inflated to the right pressure and maintain your car well.
7. Never operate your vehicle when you are talking on a cell phone. Do not text when you drive. Put away all your gadgets to avoid any type of distraction. All your attention should be on the road.

If you or a loved one has been injured in an auto accident as a result of someone else’s negligence, please contact the experienced Seattle car accident attorneys of The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information to help you better understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

It is fairly common for most entities such as schools, day care camps or businesses that offer sports or adventure activities to have participants sign a document in which they “waive liability” for potential personal injuries. This is particularly common in children’s sports fields, play areas, skating rinks, ski slopes, amusement and jump parks. The businesses get a waiver signed from the participants or the parents or legal guardians (if the participants are minors). Participants agree that they will not hold the business liable for injuries sustained during the activity.

In most cases, it will involve sports known to cause injuries or some dangerous activity such as bungee jumping or sky diving that could even cause death. The reason for this is that these entities expect that a participant in an inherently dangerous sport will know the risks and hazards of participating. As a result, there is what is known as “assumption of risk.” Defendants will usually use this “assumption of risk” doctrine to show that their negligence did not cause the injuries, but that the injured party assumed the risk of getting injured when he or she made the decision to participate in that particular activity.

How effective are these waivers? It really depends on the incident and the types of injuries suffered. An experienced Seattle personal injury attorney will be able to look at your particular waiver carefully and determine whether there was negligence involved on the part of someone else and whether you have a potential claim. Each claim and each waiver must be examined on a case-by-case basis.

You can find out more information about your particular case and what damages you may be entitled to, by contacting an experienced Washington personal injury lawyer. Please contact the reputed Seattle personal injury lawyers at The Bernard Law Firm at 1-800-418-8282 or e-mail us at info@bernardlawgroup.com to schedule your FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information to help you better understand your rights. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

A deposition is an important part of the “discovery” or fact-finding phase of the trial. During a deposition, a lawyer for a party takes your testimony. During this process, you will be put under oath, just as you would be in court and a lawyer can ask you a wide range of questions relating to the case. The lawyer’s questions and your answers will be recorded by a court reporter and possibly be tape-recorded or even video taped. Of course, your Seattle injury personal attorney will be present to make sure that the questions you are asked are fair and connected to the case.

What happens during a deposition? Typically, when the deposition begins, you will be sworn in by a court reporter. This is an opportunity for the other side’s lawyer to get additional information, which can be used during the trial. Remember, it is important to make your testimony truthful and consistent. You should never guess the answers. Whatever you say must be based on personal knowledge or experience, not hearsay. If you do not know the answer or do not remember, you should definitely say so. If you do not understand a question, ask for clarification or ask that it be rephrased.

Always maintain your guard during a deposition. Remember that the attorney for the insurance company or the defendant is not your friend, although he or she may appear very friendly, professional and may even be likeable. A deposition, depending on the case, can go on for hours or even days. If you are tired or disoriented, it would be in your best interest to request a break, stretch out, get a drink of water and clear your head before proceeding. After the attorney for the other side is done with the questioning, your attorney will have an opportunity to ask you more questions or clarify an answer you gave earlier. Sometimes, for strategic reasons, your attorney may decide not to ask you any questions. In addition to you, others such as insurance company representatives and doctors could also be deposed in accident cases.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Seattle accident, please contact the experienced Washington personal injury attorneys with The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information about Washington personal injury cases that will help you better understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

When you are seriously injured in an accident as a result of someone else’s negligence, you may claim compensation to cover medical expenses, loss of wages and other related damages. In Washington State, the law also allows the spouse of an injured person to seek damages, even if the spouse was not injured in that accident. This is known as a “loss of consortium” claim.

What is loss of consortium? The term “consortium” under Black’s Law Dictionary, is defined as “the conjugal fellowship of husband and wife, and the right of each to company, society, and cooperation, affection and aid of the other in every conjugal relation.” Loss of consortium not only includes material services that you may lose because of your spouse’s injury, but it all includes intangibles such as your spouse’s support, guidance, companionship and sexual relations. Loss of consortium claims are usually made only in cases of major or catastrophic injuries – where the injuries have had a direct, negative effect on the marital relationship. A person who is living with an injured person cannot file loss of consortium. A “marital relationship” is necessary in order to make a loss of consortium claim.

A spouse who has suffered the negative effects of the accident can present compelling testimony to juries and help convince jurors that the accident has not only affected the marital relationship but the entire family. An experienced Seattle personal injury attorney can help a victim or plaintiff determine whether a loss of consortium claim can be added to the personal injury claim.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Seattle auto accident, please contact the experienced Washington personal injury attorneys with The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information about Washington auto accident cases that will help you better understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

As a Seattle personal injury attorney, I am often asked the following question by my clients, “What is the difference between a claim and a lawsuit?” After a Washington auto accident, victims usually file a claim with the insurance company. The claim is usually settled with the insurance company and is not taken to court. However, if the claimant or victim believes that he or she has not received a fair settlement or that the insurance company unfairly diminished the value of his or her claim, then they can file a lawsuit against the insurance company.

If you have sustained an injury in a Washington auto accident, the best move is to contact an experienced Seattle car accident attorney. A skilled and knowledgeable Washington personal injury lawyer will help you obtain fair compensation for your injuries, damages and losses from the insurance company without having to file a lawsuit. Remember, a majority of car accident cases never go to court. They are usually settled way before that. But to ensure that you get a fair settlement, it is important that you get an experienced injury lawyer involved early on in the process so you are happy with your settlement and can move on with your life.

A word of caution for auto accident victims here: Never trust insurance adjusters to give you a fair claim. Their job is to make money for the insurance company, not to help you get a fair settlement. They are not looking out for you. They are looking out for the guys who pay their salary – the insurance company. So, hire an experienced lawyer who will remain on your side and fight for your rights.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a Seattle auto accident, please contact the experienced Washington personal injury attorneys with The Bernard Law Group at 1-800-418-8282 or info@bernardlawgroup.com for a FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information about Washington auto accident cases that will help you better understand your legal rights and options. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.

If you have been injured in a Washington auto accident, obviously, you need to get medical treatment right away. If you ignore your injuries and they get worse, you may not be able to claim compensation for treatment because the insurance companies will maintain that you allowed your injuries to get worse by failing to obtain prompt treatment. However, as a skilled auto accident attorney, Kirk Bernard knows that the question that arises immediately after an injury accident is usually: “How do I get my medical bills paid?”

The answer to that question is that if you have received any type of medical treatment after the accident, you will be held responsible for the payment. You will have to deal with medical bills and health insurance claims as well as auto insurance claims. If you have “personal injury protection” (PIP) on your auto insurance policy, that coverage will primarily help pay for your accident-related medical expenses. If you do not have such coverage, then your health insurance company will be the primary payer for those medical bills.

If you lack any type of insurance, then the medical provider will bill you personally. Please remember that even if the other driver was at fault, his or her insurance company will not pay for your medical bills upfront. However, some medical providers will provide treatment upfront and then put a lien on your case. Such liens will have a condition that the providers will be paid back when the case settles, before you get any part of that settlement. Such liens have helped many patients secure much-needed medical treatment they may not otherwise be able to afford.

In serious injury cases, medical expenses and hospital bills can pile up quicker than you can handle them. That is why, especially in serious auto accident cases, you should take immediate action. It would be in your best interest to contact an experienced Seattle auto accident lawyer to find out more about your legal rights and options. Please contact the reputed Washington personal injury lawyers with The Bernard Law Firm at 1-800-418-8282 or e-mail us at info@bernardlawgroup.com to schedule your FREE, comprehensive and confidential consultation. We can also send you our FREE brochure, which has useful, educational information to help you better understand your rights. Get in touch with Kirk Bernard and his skilled legal team today.